Rossyia Airlines, Russia’s third largest carrier and a member of Aeroflot Group, will transfer some of its narrow-body aircraft to sister airlines Aeroflot and low-cost carrier (LCC) Pobeda, Rusaviainsider.com informs.
Apart from relinquishing the aircraft, Rossiya is to further strengthen its presence at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, its original base, and where the city’s administration currently holds 25 per cent plus one share ownership, with the remainder of Rossiya under the control of Aeroflot Group since it joined the conglomerate in 2012.
The airline is to move seven single-aisle Boeing 737-800 aircraft, RBC reports. Aeroflot will take three of them to support the launch of operations in its future regional hub at Krasnoyarsk, while four B737-800s will join Pobeda’s fleet. Russia’s only budget carrier is one of the fastest growing airlines in the country. In the first eight months of 2019 the LCC transported some 6.6 million passengers, achieving a 46.7 per cent year-on-year improvement.
To sustain this growth rate the carrier needs additional airlift, especially as it was expecting the delivery of a number of new Boeing 737MAX aircraft this year, but those aircraft will not now be joining Pobeda’s fleet in 2019 due to the model’s temporary global grounding. The 737 MAX has been out of service since March following two fatal crashes. It is not yet clear when the aircraft will be authorised to fly again.
Rossiya Airlines currently operates 16 B737-800s, 13 of which offer the same 189-seat capacity as Pobeda Airlines’ aircraft, Rusaviainsider.com added.